14-Foot Creature Roaring Into Comic-Con with Stratasys 3D Printing

Bodock, created by Stan Winston School and Legacy Effects with 3D printing by Stratasys, on Hollywood Blvd. for the Jimmy Kimmel ShowBodock, created by Stan Winston School and Legacy Effects with 3D printing by Stratasys, on Hollywood Blvd. for the Jimmy Kimmel Show

What do you get when you combine the design genius of the Stan Winston School of Character Arts, the creative mastery of Legacy Effects and Stratasys 3D printing? The answer of course is Bodock – the 14-foot walking-talking giant creature that just debuted on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Missed Bodock on the Kimmel show? Then you can see him up close and personal this week at Comic-Con International 2014 which starts Thursday, July 24 – 27th in San Diego, California.

It took just six weeks and 7,500 collaborative hours of work at Legacy Effects, Stan Winston School and Stratasys to make Bodock the living, breathing hulk he is. This irresistible mechanical marvel weighs in at a hefty 2000 pounds and measures 13 feet 6 inches tall and 9 feet 9 inches wide. More than one third of Bodock was 3D printed by Stratasys – including the chest armor, shoulders, arms and fingers. A variety of Stratasys 3D Printers were employed in the build process, including the Fortus 900mc 3D Production System which uses Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printing technology to build durable, accurate, repeatable parts as large as 36 x 24 x 36 inches.

More than one third of Bodock was produced using Stratasys FDM 3D printing technology, including his arms and body armor

“The true value of using Stratasys 3D printing on the Bodock project was the time savings – being able to go directly from design to the end use part without having to add additional steps in the process. This is a huge step forward for Legacy Effects in incorporating 3D printing for end use materials in their designs, said Jason Lopes, lead systems engineer at Legacy Effects. “Never have we used such a large scale of directly 3D printed parts on a project of this scope and magnitude. This truly showcases the strength of this material and the ease of post-processing and finishing.”

The parts were created using ABS-M30 thermoplastic 3D printing material, which has strong mechanical properties that make it ideal for concept models and moderate-requirement parts including functional prototypes, jigs, fixtures, manufacturing tooling and end-use parts.

“Everything about the giant creature project is ambitious, including size, weight, delivery schedule and performance requirements,” said Matt Winston, co-founder of Stan Winston School. “Without the close involvement of our partners at Stratasys, whose 3D printing technologies are revolutionizing not only the manufacturing industry but the entertainment industry as well, none of it would have been possible.”

Happy to be in Hollywood for the Jimmy Kimmel Show, Bodock was created by Stan Winston School and Legacy Effects with 3D printing by Stratasys

“Stratasys is delighted to be a sponsor and active participant in the development of this impressive creature,” said Gilad Gans, president, Stratasys North America. “The increasing use of 3D printing in robotics for a variety of industrial, educational and entertainment applications demonstrates the accuracy and efficacy of our 3D Printers as well as the durability of our 3D printing materials. “

Watch the “How To Build a Giant Creature” Series

To see how Bodock went from idea to idol, check out the new season of the digital series “How to Build a Giant Creature” hosted by WIRED and Condé Nast Entertainment on thescene.com/WIRED.

This post is part of our new series “Refreshing Robotics with 3D Printing” which explores how additive manufacturing is shaping a variety of robotics applications. You can read all posts in the series here.